No news is good news?

It has only been a few days since my last entry so I don't really have any news. We just got a new picture though so I figured I better get it posted.

It is interesting all the Guatemala news that everyone (family, friends, us) noticices while this is going on. Some of the articles seem to be just wrong or misleading or just a little light on facts. I know we have had friends come to us and say that they are sorry about the news (when there really has not been any news). They have also told us they have heard that everything is cleared up and in-process adoptions will go through. In reality nothing concrete has really happened for quite a while now.

For anyone interested in the state of Guatemala adoptions, the sites I use are:

http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.htm - seems to just report the facts and also has a lot of information on the Guatemala adoption process.

http://www.guatadopt.com - Also a good resource on Guatemala adoption

Overall the news does seem positive. I think most people want to do the right thing. It is politics though so it is not an easy process getting to the final state. We will stay optimistic though and assume that no news is good news for now.

Embassy Approval!

It has been six weeks since my last entry so I figured I should get a new picture out there. We got the new picture on 11/1. He is really changing so fast.

Part of the reason I didn't post it right away was because I didn't really have anything to say with it. We have been waiting for news on a new law going through in Guatemala that has the possibility of affecting the adoption. The news seems to keep going back and forth - especially if you listen to all the rumors on the web. First the law was not going to be passed until next year. Then it was passed last minute but they had to wait for the new government to come up with the exact details (including a possible grandfather clause). Then a rumor that Guatemala was going to put it off until April. Then a rumor the US was pushing them not to wait. The vote was supposed to happen on Nov 14th -then it didn't. I try not to think about it all too much - and everything we hear from hand in hand is very positive. It sounds like everyone does want what is best for these kids - and what is best for them is not to put them into an orphanage. Hopefully we will hear something a little more firm on that soon.

On a good note we were just notified that we got US Embassy approval yesterday. That was the first step in Guatemala. The US gets all the evidence that Victor should legally be allowed to be adopted - and then they issue this approval. Now it moves to the PGN in Guatemala. The PGN is the central authority in charge of adoptions in Guatemala. This stage is the longest stage and will probably involve the most waiting.

Done with class

It took us a while to finally get to our last adoption class but on Sept 15 we finally got it done. The class was with all new people - two couples both adopting from Russia. It was fun being able to show off pictures of Baby Victor. In this class we got to spend some time going through Guatemala books learning about their history and culture. I think I will probably get one of the books so I can spend some time learning a little more.

We also got to talk to Karin a little bit about possibly taking a trip down to see Victor. We learned that taking a trip down will actually change which Visa Victor would get when he travels to the United States and would make him a citizen immediately instead of having to wait for that. In the long run it probably doesn't make much difference but gives one more reason to go down and see him. We did learn when you are down there you do have to stay in the hotel with Victor. I am not sure I would want to be in a foreign country with a baby trapped in a hotel for too long - but I am sure I could manage a few days and do some tourist stuff for a while before or after that.

We just got a new picture today as you can see. We are told that as of Sept 13 he was 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 50 cm (19.7 inches). I am not sure if that is good or bad but I am sure Lara and a lot of you know. I just think we need to get that tiger rug he is on so we can compete with Grandpa David's tiger rug from Nepal.

Meet Victor Hugo

I am pleased to present Victor Hugo. No - not that Victor Hugo. Of course there is still a lot that needs to happen and a lot of things that could go wrong but right now it looks like we may be able to adopt baby Victor. Victor was born on July 22, 2007 in Cuilapa Guatemala. July 22 is also Lara's Grandmother's birthday so it is easy to remember for her. He seems to be very healthy from all the reports we have received. Now it is mostly just waiting for us. It is a slow process now because of the Hauge but we can live with slow. Our best estimate is sometime around 6-8 months from now so hopefully sometime by May of next year.

As far as Victor's name - we really haven't thought of it much yet. We will probably wait until we are close to getting him before we decide on what to call him. For now I will just call him baby Victor.

One or Two?

One of the big questions we have been trying to answer is whether we should get one or two children right away. I've thought all along that eventually I would like us to have two children, but should we get them both right away or one now and one later? We decided we would like one boy and one girl. I would go with the boy being the oldest ( it worked for me ) but Lara thinks the girl should be oldest (it worked for her). This is the time we have to decide since they have to prepare two copies of the paper work for two babies. After much deliberation, we decided that we would get two right away.

A few days after we make this decision we get a call. The time pressure created by the Hague that I discussed in my previous post is creating some issues. They want all of the people adopting from Guatemala to be matched with a child and a fair way through the court system as soon as possible. We are the last couple that Hand in Hand is matching in Guatemala because of this. They called to say there are three other couples in front of us and they all want at least one girl. That makes it probably that we would not be able to get two children with one being a girl.

We talked it over and decided there is no rush. We will just get one child now, and we can return later after these issues work out if we still think we want two. So that was our decision, just get one for now. The next day we get another call. They say they think they have two available for us if we will take two boys. Thats certainly a lot of pressure. Way to much deciding for one week. We still decided to stick with one for now. I think either decision could have been right but there is no reason to rush. There are certainly pluses and minuses either way.

If we decided to adopt another in the future it is MUCH easier. There would be no more classes, most of the paper work would be done, we wouldn't have to do a new autobiography, and there would be only a small home study update. I can't say for sure we will adopt another, it all depends on how God leads us. For now we will just focus on getting this adoption finished .

The Hague Convention

I thought I would give you a little information on the Hague Convention since that is what is making the time-line so important for us. I won't give you a lot of boring detail because I don't understand it all myself. The Hague is a international treaty designed to make sure that adoptions are done in the best interests of the children. It does many good things to prevent illegal adoptions. The US signed the treaty in 1994. Guatemala also signed this treaty. Move ahead 13 years and the US is almost ready to ratify the treaty that Jimmy Carter signed.

The problem is that after Guatemala signed the treaty, their congress decided it was unconstitutional and they were not going to do it. Apparently with international treaties there are no take-backs. When the US actually ratifies this means that a bunch of rules take affect for adoptions with other countries that have signed the treaty. What this ultimately means is that at some point adoptions between the US and Guatemala may stop for some period of time until Guatemala has proper controls in place. To us this means we have to get things done as soon as possible. Most people seem to think this date will be some time around the end of the year. Our adoption has to be a good deal done at that point in order to continue. Hopefully this won't affect anything, but anything can happen.

Douments, Tests, and more Documents

The past several months have been spent doing all the required forms, tests, and paperwork that is required for an adoption. Here is a brief summary of what is required:

• Numerous State and Federal Forms filled out
• Reference letters from four different people
• Certified Birth Certificates
• Financial letters from all banks listing balances and transactions for the past year
• Employment Letters
• Financial statements
• State Police clearance letters
• Marriage Certificates
• Medical Exams
• Fingerprinting by INS
• 1040 tax forms
• Power of Attorney forms
• Psychological Evaluation (Need to take MMPI test which has 550+ True/False Questions.)
• Photos
  
• Autobiography
• Home Study

I would have to say the big things are the last two. The autobiography is a 5-20 page autobiography that we each had to do. Mine was 6 1/2 pages long, Lara's was probably closer to 20 pages. They give you an outline on things to include (How were you disciplined, what was good about each of your parents, what was not good). I know my Mom would like to get her hands on mine but we all know that is never going to happen.

A lot of this paperwork is ultimately a requirement for the Home Study. The Home Study was a day long (1-7) meeting with a Social worker that we had on July 20. It is a lot of questions that are required by Guatemala and a lot of questions required by Minnesota. They include questions on how we would parent, on religion, on how we and the extended view adoption and international adoption specifically. It was definitely the longest I have talked in a long time. A lot of the questions they require the man to answer first so it was tough on me.

It is July 30th and we have just been told that the report from the Home Study is complete and they are ready to start certifying the dossier. I don't think we expected it this quickly but they are trying to rush everything with Guatemala because of possible issue. Anyway, most of the work is done now; now comes the waiting.